High tides, storm surge cause flooding around 3 Crabs

A combination of a storm surge and high tide caused some areas of Dungeness near 3 Crabs Road to flood at about noon on Dec. 20.

There are about 12 residential homes along 3 Crabs Road that were effected by rising water water levels and parts of the road along 3 Crabs were flooded with about one foot of water.

Dan Orr, assistant Chief for Clallam County Fire District 3, said fire district officials responded to calls of rising water levels around 12:30 p.m. and checked on residents who lived in homes in the effected area.

Orr said due to rising water levels residents were asked to voluntarily evacuate, however, conditions were not life threatening and there were no mandatory evacuations made.

“No one has evacuated at this time,” Orr said. “We asked for voluntary evacuation and no one took us up on that.”

Orr said no damage or injuries have been reported as of Dec. 20 but there was some concern for the septic systems of those homes as many are in the front part of the yard and need power to run. He said the Public Utility District was not concerned with rising water levels affecting the power of those homes.

“A lot of those systems are mound systems and to make those work they need to have power,” Orr said. “PUD was not concerned about their connections from their power poles to the homes because they’re above ground.”

High tide reached a level of 8 feet, Orr said, but water levels started to recede at about 2:00 p.m. on Dec. 20. Orr said high tide is expected to return again at 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 21 at a level of 7.5 feet.

Dwayne Pettett, 55, has lived across the road from 3 Crabs and said he has never seen water levels rise like they did today.

“This is the worst I’ve seen it,” he said.

Orr said first responders will keep a close eye on the weather in the next few days and will be prepared in the event water levels rise again.

“We will have plans in place to get folks out or help them with flooding if they have those issues,” he said.

Orr believes today’s events were caused by a combination of high tides and storm surge.

“The concern is in a couple of days there could be a higher tide than today,” Orr said. “A lot of what is driving this is the weather out on the Straits (of Juan de Fuca).”

Fire District officials advise residents to check on tide levels in their area over the next few days and to stay situationally aware of how the weather could effect their homes and neighborhood.